Pop
by NettieC
Summary: The last of the unrelated trilogy of Snap, Cracked and Pop! When Harm thinks Mac is seeing someone else he is jealous ... but he realises there are worse things than being jealous, him being a grandfather is one of them.


Disclaimer: They don't belong to me.

**AN: Here's Pop, thus ending the little trilogy writing spree. Enjoy!**

**All mistakes are mine.  
**XOXOXOXHMXOXOXOXOX

Jealous.

No, he wasn't jealous. Just because Mac's body was pressed up against someone else's, didn't mean he was jealous. Just because someone else's hands were over her body, it didn't bother him. After all, they weren't together, weren't an item. He had no claim on her and therefore there was no way he was jealous of some blonde haired, blue eyed, kid swirling her around the dance floor.

And yet he was.

With his heart racing and palms sweating, Harm wanted to storm across the room and extract Mac's arms from around whoever this kid was. Kid...kid...Blondie couldn't have been more than eighteen, well maybe 22, alright, 25 but still he was a kid; what did he know about Mac? What she needed? Who she was?

Before Harm could do anything about it, his cell rang and he was forced to depart the restaurant before Mac had even noticed him.

For the next few days, Mac couldn't work out what Harm's problem with her was. Fluctuating between hostility and over interest in her life, Harm couldn't string a sentence together without imagining surfer-boy's wandering hands.

"Have you got a problem with me?" Mac confronted Harm in the break room on Friday afternoon, this had been going on a week and she'd had enough.

"No, why would I?" he countered, moving past her to get himself a coffee.

"Because you've been acting strangely this whole week," Mac replied, studying him as he purposely avoided her glare.

"Me?" he choked, turning around. "I've been acting strangely? I don't think so."

"I do," she retorted. "Have I done something to you that I don't know about?"

"No, you've not done anything to me, you never have," Harm sighed, that was the basis of the whole problem. He wanted her to do something to him, anything, especially if it involved their bodies pressed together in any way – preferably horizontal.

Still bothered and bewildered about Harm's whole attitude by the time she returned home, Mac threw her cover and bag onto the sofa in frustration before dropping into the arm chair and growling to herself. That man had a way of infuriating her that she just couldn't shake. Before she could take deep calming breaths to clear her head, there was a knock on her door.

"If that's him I'll kill him," she muttered to herself. "What!" she growled, opening the door without checking.

"Everything alright, Mac?"

"Oh, hi, Kip, everything's fine, come on in," she said, gesturing into the apartment.

"Are you sure? You seem very tense," he replied moving past her.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just an irritant at work," she said, shaking her head and trying to ignore her negative feelings.

"And would your irritation have anything to do with a certain Commander?" Kip asked, leaning against the dining table.

Mac just chuckled, she'd only known him a month yet he knew her so well. "Is it that obvious?" she asked, heading to the kitchen.

"Just to me," he replied, refusing the bottle of water she offered him.

"So, how can I help you this evening?" Mac asked, unscrewing the lid of her bottle.

"I have a dinner date tonight and I'm still waiting for a delivery from UPS, I was hoping, that if you were staying in, I could get them to drop it off here," he said in a rush.

"I'll be in," Mac said with a smile. "But it will cost you," she added.

"And what will that be?" he asked.

"Where are you going for dinner?" she countered, folding her arms.

"Alessandro's," he replied.

"Oh nice, taking someone special?" she inquired with a grin.

"Just my mom, she's in town for a week," Kip replied. "What's it costing me?"

"A pint of triple choc mint ice cream on your way home," Mac said almost drooling at the mention of the iced confection she knew she was obsessed with.

"Deal," Kip said before heading out.

For the second week in a row, Harm stumbled across Blondie in a DC restaurant. This time he wasn't jealous he was horrified that Blondie was dining with a leggy blonde. While he couldn't see the woman's face, he didn't need to. If surfer-boy was two timing Mac, he was going to take it upon himself to stop him.

Stalking to the table, he froze when Blondie's cell rang.

"Hey, Mac ... sure, oh, that's great... you're such a sweetheart ... okay, two pints then ....see you later."

"So, who's Mac?" asked the woman across from him.

"A friend," he replied.

"A special friend?" asked his companion.

"Yeah, she's pretty special," he admitted and Harm was confused. If Blondie was two-timing Mac then he wouldn't be telling the other woman.

Trying to retreat while he figured out his next move, Harm stumbled into a nearby table drawing attention to himself.

Blondie went to help him up as his dinner companion stared oddly at him.

"Harmon Rabb Junior?" she said slowly, taking in the man half sprawled over the table.

"Yes," he replied standing up and straightening his clothes.

"Oh, my god, I don't believe it," she said, standing up and moving to him.

Harm studied her for a moment.

"Alice Pitman?" he finally said as her face registered.

"Yes," she replied. "Though it's been Brennan for longer than it was Pitman. How are you?" she asked taking him in an embrace.

"I'm doing well," he replied. "God, it must be ... how long since we've seen each other?"

"Twenty five years, at least," she said, drawing him towards her table. "Kip, this is an old friend from high school, H..."

"Harmon Rabb Junior, I heard," Kip said, standing and offering the older man his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Are you here with someone?" Alice asked, glancing around.

"No, my dinner guest just cancelled, I was leaving," he said, looking towards the door.

"No, no, you'll eat with us," she said enthusiastically.

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt," Harm said, looking at Kip.

"No, no, it's okay, mom's in town for a week, we'll have plenty of time to catch up," Kip said.

"Mom?" Harm questioned, amazed that Alice could have a child so old.

"Yes, mom," she chuckled. "I know, it doesn't seem possible, does it?"

"No, not at all," Harm replied, sitting down at the chair Kip pulled out for him.

The first part of dinner was spent reminiscing about the old days – who was doing what, where and when. Then came the harder part for Harm, his life. While he had a career he was proud of, there was nothing really to talk about in the personal stakes.

"Harm's a Navy lawyer now," Kip offered, surprising both Harm and his mother.

"How do you know?" Alice asked as Harm looked at him.

"Mac told me," Kip answered, taking a mouthful of pasta.

"And how do you know Mac?" Alice asked Harm.

"We work together," Harm replied before turning his attention back to Kip. "How do _you _know Mac?" he asked.

Now, in the month Kip had known Mac he had learnt several things. One, she was crazy about the Naval Commander in front of him. Two, neither could seem to act on their feelings. Three, he knew Harm was jealous of him, just by the way he'd asked the question. And, four, he couldn't help himself when it came to meddling.

"Oh, we live together," he started and watched as Harm nearly choked on his lettuce. "Well, not together, as such, we live on the same floor but we've spent a lot of time together lately, so it feels like we live together." It wasn't a complete lie; Kip was a carpenter by trade and was doing some work for Mac in her apartment, including building her a large closet with extra shoe space.

"Really?" Harm asked, wondering why he hadn't known that Kip had been around longer than a week.

"Yeah," Kip said, grinning. "And most of that time's been in her bedroom."

This time, Harm did choke, on his water.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked him, handing him a napkin.

"Sure, sorry," he replied.

"She must be some woman," Alice said, smiling at her dinner companions.

"She is!" They replied in unison.

Between dessert and coffee, Kip made a move to go home.

"Look, I'm sure you two have a lot more to catch up on and as Mac's waiting for me, I should get going," he said, standing and kissing his mother's head.

"What's she waiting for?" Harm asked before he could stop himself.

"The ice cream I promised her," he replied, with a wide grin. "And besides, I left something I need under her bed. I'll pick up the check on the way out."

.

With Kip gone, Alice and Harm continued chatting amiably but every now and then he drifted off, thinking about Mac and about Kip and about Mac and Kip.

"Pardon?" he asked when he realised he had no idea as to what Alice has said.

"I said I'm glad you got to meet Kip," she repeated. "He's my pride and joy. I know I was young having him and it was a struggle then, but I wouldn't have had it any other way."

"He seems like a pretty good kid," Harm said, despite his thoughts to the contrary.

"He's wonderful. Kip was a great support when my husband died four years ago," she said, grief still evident in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he replied.

"Thanks," she said with a small nod. "It hasn't been easy since I lost Bill but Kip makes it easier."

.

Kip rapped on Mac's door and held up her much anticipated ice cream.

"Oooh," she moaned. "You are my favourite, favourite person, right now," she said, ushering Kip in and taking the tub.

"Oh, I bet you say that to all the men who bring you ice cream," Kip replied with a grin.

"Well, maybe, but you're my favourite man tonight," she said with a laugh as she headed to the kitchen to retrieve a spoon.

"Well, it may be of interest to you that I had dinner with another favourite man of yours," he called after her.

"Who?" she asked, intrigued. "I thought you were having dinner with your mom."

"I did, just happened to run into an old high school friend of hers," he said, propping himself on the arm of the chair.

"And who was it?" she asked, leaning on the door jamb.

"A certain Naval Commander that you go all dreamy over every time you mention his name," Kip replied with a laugh.

"I'm a marine, we don't go dreamy," she retorted.

"You do over Harmon Rabb Junior," he said and watched the involuntary smile tug at her lips.

"Your mom and Harm went to school together?" she asked, amazed. "It really is a small world."

"It is," he agreed. "And, just so you know, I may have alluded to the fact that we were something more than neighbours..."

"What?" she said, spluttering on her mouthful of ice cream.

"Well, Harm seemed overly interested in how I knew you and I remembered how you said he only seemed to make a move when you had a foot out the door, so I figured I'd help things along," Kip confessed.

"What did you say?" she asked, eyes wide in a mix of anticipation and fear.

"Said we were sort of living together, or rather we had spent a lot of time together, in your bedroom, which isn't a lie," he said, a smug smile on his face.

"Technically, no," she agreed.

"And told him I was coming back here tonight to give you the ice cream and get something I left from under your bed," he said, not in the least sorry.

"And what was that?" she asked.

"My claw hammer, need it for a job in the morning," he replied.

"And no doubt Harm would have been thinking other things altogether," Mac said, trying to get her head around it all.

"No doubt."

Harm had returned home for a fitful night's sleep. No sooner would he drift off then he'd fall into all sorts of Mac dreams and everyone of them had Kip. Kip. A twenty five year old kid. Kid. The thought gnawed at him and suddenly he sat upright in bed, his heart pounding and bedding soaked in his sweat. Kip. Kid.

The last time he saw Alice Pitman was in the fall, twenty five years ago. They had dated a few times and slept together once before she and her family left suddenly for Oregon. In the haze of the night, he tried to do the maths; trying to figure out if it was all possible for him to be Kip's father. The only answer he could come up with was yes.

Knowing he couldn't speak to Alice at three in the morning, Harm spent the next few hours pacing around his apartment. If he was the kid's father and Kip and Mac became serious, despite the age difference, and got married and had kids then he'd be grandfather to Mac's children. Pacing furiously he tried to think other things but there was only the one recurring image that kept coming back to him; Mac holding a toddler who called her mommy and him Pop.

It wasn't right, it wasn't natural. If Mac ever had children he had to be daddy, not pop, daddy. He paced some more. There was no way he was going to be pop to Mac's kids, no way. There was no way any other man, including Kip, would be daddy.

Showering and dressing quickly, Harm jumped in his car and raced across town, parking outside Mac's apartment building. He was about to jump out of the car when he realised it was still only 0500 and he had no real information as to Kip's paternity.

Realising how foolish he'd look if he raced up there in his current state, Harm drove to a nearby 24 hour IHOP and ordered breakfast. Eating little, he played with the fruit on his plate as the waitress refilled his coffee mug twice.

By 0600 he decided to end his self imposed craziness and called Alice, apologising profusely for the earliness of his call. The call was brief and Harm was relieved by the end, Kip was not his son.

For a long time, Harm sat and contemplated his next move. If the worst was to happen and Mac was serious about Kip, then at least he wouldn't be Pop. However, he couldn't let anything serious develop. If the last night had taught him anything it was time is fleeting and there was no one else in this world for him but Mac.

Taking her steps two at a time, he stood almost breathless at her door, his hand raised before the thought struck him that Mac may not be alone. Kip had been there the night before, in her bedroom and there was nothing to say he hadn't stayed the night. Deciding to bite the bullet, he knocked on her door and nervously waited.

"Harm?" Mac yawned and stretched as she opened the door. "What are you doing here this early? Was I supposed to be ready?"

"No, no," he replied quickly. "I needed to talk to you."

"At 0712 on a Saturday?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, as he started to pace once more.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned about his demeanour.

"You're right," he started. "I have been acting strangely lately... towards you... and I'm sorry for that," he apologised.

"Why?" she asked, leaning on the back of the sofa.

"Because ..." he started. "Because you are it for me and I saw you with him and I was jealous, I'll admit it..."

"Saw me with whom?" she asked.

"Kip, last week, you were dancing and his hands...nevermind," he said with a shake of his head. "And with one thing and another I started thinking that I didn't want you to have kids and have them calling anyone else but me daddy and definitely not pop. I'm too young to be a grandfather, well, obviously I'm not too young, it would be possible, but I don't want to be...I want to be daddy, your daddy, well, no, not your daddy but daddy of your kids..." Harm's convoluted rambling stopped when Mac pressed her finger to his lips.

"Take a breath, Harm. You're not making a lot of sense," she said, concerned by Harm's flushed cheeks and ramblings.

Harm took a couple of deep breaths before speaking once more.

"Alice and I had sex in high school, just once. And during the night I realised that it was possible I was Kip's dad..." he said as Mac's eyes widened. "But I'm not. I phoned Alice this morning and I'm definitely not. But I'd spent hours at home pacing, thinking about Kip and about you, and about you and Kip and about me and you and Kip and ...."

"That's a lot of thinking," Mac interrupted to give him a chance to collect his thought.

"I know, and it occurred to me that if I was his dad and if you and he had kids, then I'd be their pop..." his voice trailed.

"And you want to be daddy," she finished for him.

"Yep," he nodded.

.

For a long while Mac looked at him, trying to get her thoughts together. Deciding it was make or break time, she drew a deep breath and stepped up into his personal space.

"For the record, there is nothing between Kip and I..." she began.

"But he said..." he interjected.

"He's a friend," she interrupted.

"He's been spending time in your bedroom," Harm said.

"Yes, he's building me a closet," she said, gesturing towards the bedroom.

"But..." he went to interject once more but she wouldn't let him.

"Kip is wonderful and funny and a great dancer and we have a fantastic time together," she said, "but that's it, we're just friends."

"You may think you're just friends but what does he think? I got the distinct impression that he thought there was more," Harm said quietly.

"He was trying to make you jealous and it obviously worked," she said with a grin.

"How can you be so sure he..." he started to say.

"I'm not his type," Mac interrupted.

"I find that very hard to believe," Harm replied, his eyes raking over her. "I doubt there's a man alive who wouldn't want you."

"Well, Kip doesn't," she replied. "He prefers them taller and male," she added and Harm's eyes widened.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," she said with a nod. "Now, we've established that, let's get back to the real topic."

"What's that?" he asked, his heart pounding widely.

"You're jealousy. You don't seem to want me but you don't want me with anyone else," she said matter of fact.

"Who said I don't want you?" he asked, before he could censor himself.

"You want me?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. "You really want me for me and not just because you thought someone else wanted me?" she questioned.

"I want you for you..." he finally admitted. "I know I have a terrible way of showing you or telling you what I feel but you have to know that the only person in this whole world for me is you. Yes, it drives me crazy to think of you with anyone else but it breaks my heart to think of you living happily ever after with anyone else ," he said, his eyes filling with tears. "And it devastates me to think of you having a baby that would call anyone else daddy."

"Wow!" Mac whispered, stunned and touched by his admission.

"And, so we're clear about this, this is not about jealousy or anything else, it's about me being so in love with you," he confessed, taking her hands in his. "Mac, I love you."

"Wow!" she said again with greater conviction.

"Yeah, wow!" he echoed, proud of himself for actually telling her how he felt this time, scared to death she didn't feel likewise.

"Well, I'm in love with you too, Harm," she said, squeezing his hands. "So finally we agree on something."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said, leaning in towards her.

Letting go of his hands, Mac threaded her arms around his neck and drew him to her as her lips brushed against his. "Love you so much, Harm," she whispered before his lips claimed hers fully and she was left with no ability to talk or even think.

When he pulled back marginally for air, Mac took the opportunity to start walking backwards to her bedroom with him still attached.

Realising their destination, Harm's eyes lit up.

"You sure about this?" Harm asked, desperate for her not to have second thoughts.

"Absolutely positive," she replied, trailing kisses along his jaw. "Besides, you want to be a daddy, so that's something we can get to work on right now," she added pulling him onto the bed with her.

Always dedicated to the cause, they worked very hard all weekend.

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.  
**


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